Have you ever driven up to a restaurant and your first impression was
disappointing? Perhaps the windows looked dark and gloomy, the façade
was worn and unattractive or for some other reason it just didn’t look like a
tempting place to eat.
It could still be a fantastic restaurant – a real gem. But, your first impression
has soured your anticipation. If you still walk through the front door, it will
likely be with the expectation of being disappointed.
This scenario often plays out in the real estate market as well.
A buyer drives up to a home for sale and quickly forms an impression based
on what he sees “from the curb”. That’s why you’ll hear real estate experts
talk about the importance of “curb appeal”. It’s one of the most important
selling points of a property.
If you plan to put your home on the market, you obviously want your home
to look as attractive as possible from the street. Fortunately, there are many
simple things you can do to improve curb appeal.
For example, you can trim shrubs and hedges, plant flowers, clean the
walkway and driveway, paint the front door and garage door, and clean the
exteriors of the windows. All these projects are relatively easy and
inexpensive. Yet, each can make a dramatic improvement to how your
home looks at first glance.
Don’t be like the great restaurant that’s hidden behind an unkept façade.
Make sure your curb appeal reflects the overall value of your property.
Looking for more advice on selling your home quickly and for the best price?
Call today
Posts Tagged ‘real estate market’
Your Home at a glance
Friday, January 2nd, 2015Sept 2012 Calgary Real Estate Market Snapshot
Thursday, October 4th, 2012Here is a quick summary of some key areas including inventory, sales, prices and absorption rate with a few short comments about the Calgary real estate market for September 2012. All numbers are taken from the statistics package created by the Calgary Real Estate Board for Realtors.
Calgary Listing Inventory: Inventory levels for all categories decreased slightly again in September. Last year this was the time when our inventory was increasing rapidly so seeing a slight decline is a good sign and shows stability in the Calgary market.
| Inventory |
Aug 2012 |
Sept 2012 |
Change |
| Single Family Home |
3535 |
3486 |
-49 |
| Condo Townhouse |
584 |
548 |
-36 |
| Condo Apartment |
1065 |
1064 |
-1 |
| Total |
5184 |
5098 |
-86 |
Calgary Sales:
Sales decreased marginally in all categories this month. In my opinion this is simply a seasonal adjustment. What I am seeing (especially in Single Family homes) it is hard to find good homes for clients due to low inventory levels. Last year’s sales in September were 1461 and this year we sold 1617 homes showing a 10.6% increase this year over last.
| Sales |
Aug 2012 |
Sept 2012 |
Change |
% Change |
| Single Family Home |
1169 |
1132 |
-37 |
-3.2% |
| Condo Townhouse |
241 |
209 |
-32 |
-1.3% |
| Condo Apartment |
315 |
276 |
-39 |
-1.3% |
| Total |
1725 |
1617 |
-108 |
-6.2% |
Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices: Please note that we are now using the Benchmark price for this comparison.
As the chart below demonstrates the benchmark price for all categories stayed flat this month. In my opinion this is a very healthy market with good activity level and prices showing modest increases.
| Sales Prices | Aug 2012 Benchmark Price |
Sept 2012 Benchmark Price |
Change |
| Single Family Homes |
432600 |
432,900 |
+$300.00 |
| Condo Townhouse |
278200 |
277,700 |
-$500.00 |
| Condo Apartment |
248700 |
249,300 |
+$600.00 |
Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) – Yes a new category!
The absorption rate is the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month.
What does this mean you might ask?
An absorption rate of below 3.0 indicates a Seller’s Market
An absorption rate of between 3.0 to 4.0 indicates a Balanced Market
An Absorption rate of above 4.0 indicates a Buyer’s Market.
| Absorption Rate | Aug 2012 |
Sept 2012 |
Change |
| Single Family Homes |
3.02 |
3.08 |
+.06 |
| Condo Townhouse |
2.42 |
2.62 |
+.2 |
| Condo Apartment |
3.38 |
3.85 |
+.47 |
| Total Calgary |
3.01 |
3.15 |
+.14 |
Overall we are in a balanced market and leaning towards a seller’s market. Please note that these numbers do change by community. If you would like to find stats on your community just let me know.
If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us anytime.
If you know anyone else who might enjoy seeing our monthly summary please feel free to pass it on.
Gord, Eric & Brent
What’s happening in the Calgary Real estate market?
Saturday, September 3rd, 2011This report gives you information on all the important indicators on whats happening in Calgary. Real time, Real Estate Market stats at a glance for the Month of August 2011. These stats break the market down into what’s important and eliminates all the extra. Data is from the August Calgary Real Estate Boards Monthly stats package.
Calgary Listing
Inventory: Inventory levels for Both Single Family homes and Condo’s stayed very flat this month. This is generally a good number however with sales levels it would balance the market a little more if our inventory dropped slightly.
| Inventory | July 2011 |
August 2011 |
Change |
| Single Family Home | 4630 | 4573 | (57) |
| Condo’s | 2003 | 1997 | (6) |
| Total | 6633 | 6570 | (63) |
Calgary Sales:
Calgary sales for the month of August showed marginal decreases for single family homes and a slight increase for condos. Sales numbers dropping is very normal at this time of year as the peak selling season is typically April through June. Interestingly
sales in August 2010 were 865 Single family homes and 468 condos for a total of
1333 showing an increase of 18% this year over last.
| Sales | July 2011 | August 2011 |
Change |
| Single Family Home | 1153 | 1106 | (47) |
| Condo’s | 453 | 468 | +15 |
| Total | 1606 | 1574 | (32) |
Calgary Real Estate
Sales Prices: Median prices for Single Family homes decreased by $6,749 and condo’s decreased by $14,000 in August. To me this is not alarming as the direction is not a trend. We seem to bounce up and down every month but overall prices are remaining fairly stable.
| Sales Prices | July Median Prices |
August 2011 | Change |
| Single Family Homes | $409,000 | $402,251 | ($6749) |
| Condo’s | $269,000 | $255,000 | ($14,000) |
Overall we are still in a buyer’s market – this month we moved slightly more in favour of buyers as our inventory stayed flat while sales did show a slight decrease therefore increasing our absorption rate.
Check out our new technology – we can now send you a custom monthly report including, active listing, sold listings, days on market and much more –with easy
to understand graphs all based on your home by the postal code you enter. All
you have to do is sign up and once we approve you will get your own personal Market Snapshot. Simply Click here to sign up: www.calgaryareasolds.com
If you have any questions about this summary, the attached
stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us
anytime.
Gord & Brent & Eric
Housing Market Outlook, Canada
Friday, August 26th, 2011Check out this report produced by CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
It provides us with a detailed outlook in all areas of the housing Industry. Not only does it talk about Canada it drills down to each province. click here to view Housing Market Outlook Report Third Quarter.
For a more detailed report on Calgary’s Housing market please contact me.
June 2011, Calgary Real Estate Stats at a glance
Sunday, July 3rd, 2011Want to know instantly whats happening in the real estate market in Calgary. Below you will find a summary of some key areas with a few short comments. All stats are taken directly from the Calgary Real Estate Boards monthly stats package for June 2011. These highlights are all you need to stay informed. Provided to you courtesy of Gord Piper and Associates.
Calgary Listing Inventory: As shown below our inventory in Calgary Metro increased marginally this month.
| Inventory | May 2011 | June 2011 | Change |
| Single Family Home | 4616 | 4744 | 128 |
| Condo’s | 2092 | 2023 | (69) |
| Total | 6708 | 6767 | 59 |
Calgary Sales:
Calgary sales for the month of June showed increases in both single family and condos. Of interest, this is the first month all year where condo sales beat the number of condo sales in the same month of last year. Single family homes have done this for a few months After years of research and testing the new system is designed to provide learner drivers with all the training, resources and qualified bronx driving schools instructors required to become a licensed driver. now.
| Sales | May 2011 | June 2011 | Change |
| Single Family Home | 1313 | 1398 | 85 |
| Condo’s | 503 | 581 | 78 |
| Total | 1816 | 1979 | 163 |
Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices: Prices for Single Family homes and for condos decreased very slightly this month. It’s interesting that for the last 3 months prices of single family homes have been almost flat at 420,000, 423,000 and 417,250. Condos have stayed between $260,000 and $270,000 for the last 3 months. This makes sense as our inventory is holding steady and sales are strong.
| Sales Prices | May Median Prices | June Median Prices | Change |
| Single Family Homes | $423,000 | $417,250 | ($5750) |
| Condo’s | $269,250 | $265,000 | ($4,350) |
Overall we are still in a slight buyers market.
If you have any questions about this summary, or would like to receive the entire stats package or have other Real Estate questions feel free to contact us.
Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox
CIR Realty
Calgary Real Estate Stat’s October 2010
Sunday, October 31st, 2010Welcome to our new Blog!
Within our blog it is our intention to share news and information related to Real Estate in Calgary. Today we have for you a summary of some important stat’s taken from the Calgary Real Estate Boards October 2010 monthly Stats package. These key areas give you a good snapshot of the Calgary real estate market.
Calgary Listing Inventory: Inventory showed a decrease again this month. We have seen steady inventory decreases since June when we peaked at 9080 listings within Calgary.
| Inventory | Sept | October | Change |
| Single Family Home | 4880 | 4528 | – 352 |
| Condo’s | 2204 | 2042 | – 162 |
| Total | 7084 | 6570 | – 514 |
Calgary Sales: Sales are very similar to September Sales but are again down from last year’s sales.
| Sales | September | October | Change |
| Single Family Home | 958 | 999 | + 41 |
| Condo’s | 366 | 310 | – 56 |
| Total | 1324 | 1309 | – 15 |
Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices : For this summary, I will focus only on the Median Sales Price as the average can be skewed by Realtors selling more of less million dollar homes and should be a better reflection of the market. As you can see below single family homes dropped by $2100.00 and Condo’s dropped by $10,000 – It is important to note that in August Condo prices increased by $5,000 so this is partly just a bounce back.
| Sales Prices | Sept Median Price | October Median Price | Change |
| Single Family Homes | $390,000 | $387,900 | $2,100. |
| Condo’s | $265,000 | $255,000 | $10,000 |
Personally we have noticed that in the last couple of weeks the activity has increased and the sales in the last week of this month showed that with sales of 354 listings compared to the previous week with sales of 275 listings.
If you have any questions about this summary, or have any suggestions to other information you would like to see here please Contact us.
Gord Piper and Brent Wilcox are Realtors with Century 21, The Professionals which is conveniently located within the Northland Village Professional Centre in Northwest Calgary.